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Phrases you don't hear anymore: (Original Post) Buttoneer Dec 2024 OP
A friend laughed at me the other day when I said walkingman Dec 2024 #1
"No one says 'rubbers' anymore" JoseBalow Dec 2024 #13
That's just swell. dchill Dec 2024 #77
A generation prior to me called them "safes" TexLaProgressive Dec 2024 #111
Alas, I don't think people say "Gee Whiz" any more Stargleamer Dec 2024 #2
I like to use antiquated phrases. johnp3907 Dec 2024 #3
Me, too. It's fun. Iggo Dec 2024 #89
You must live for September 19 each year. soldierant Dec 2024 #149
Aarh. Iggo Dec 2024 #165
I remember my mother... Pluvious Dec 2024 #98
Hey, that was my dad's first job! (n/t) Iggo Dec 2024 #166
"Groovy, man." Dave Bowman Dec 2024 #4
Far out, man. calguy Dec 2024 #84
Rumpy-pumpy chowder66 Dec 2024 #5
wotcha! UK Shellback Squid Dec 2024 #6
I'm gonna... WestMichRad Dec 2024 #7
Holy cow. Never understood it but but always thought cows somehow deserved a phrase like that. dgauss Dec 2024 #8
My daughter says that all the time radical noodle Dec 2024 #10
"Holy cow" lost a major proponent True Dough Dec 2024 #16
Phil Rizzuto always used Holy Cow Sanity Claws Dec 2024 #47
Baseball Hall of Famer displacedvermoter Dec 2024 #52
Carey enid602 Dec 2024 #107
You're joking, right? True Dough Dec 2024 #110
Confusion enid602 Dec 2024 #137
Ah, I see. True Dough Dec 2024 #139
And the great uncle of Mariah Carey. FSogol Dec 2024 #155
Isn't that Hindu? n/t malthaussen Dec 2024 #90
Never thought of that. From Wikipedia: dgauss Dec 2024 #109
My husband is doing his best to keep... 3catwoman3 Dec 2024 #9
My cousin's maiden name was Keene Nittersing Dec 2024 #38
Mature Republican RainCaster Dec 2024 #11
Phonograph and record player. rubbersole Dec 2024 #12
Add LP and 45 to that. wnylib Dec 2024 #18
Try "spindle." Some of the earliest records were wax cylinders. royable Dec 2024 #19
And yet... Pluvious Dec 2024 #99
My late ex had every Elvis, Beatles, Baez etc. LP and 45 ever made. rubbersole Dec 2024 #106
They could be very lucky indeed... Pluvious Dec 2024 #112
When moving, the one that caught my eye... rubbersole Dec 2024 #116
This message was self-deleted by its author Chin music Dec 2024 #14
I wonder if the dog sled driver was supposed to yorkster Dec 2024 #67
This message was self-deleted by its author Chin music Dec 2024 #74
I too have heard by jingo in the wayback of my yorkster Dec 2024 #82
Should add that I read those books so long ago, yorkster Dec 2024 #75
This message was self-deleted by its author Chin music Dec 2024 #78
Wurlitzer Keepthesoulalive Dec 2024 #15
Family Friends Had One ProfessorGAC Dec 2024 #94
There is still a Wurlitzer Keepthesoulalive Dec 2024 #124
Oh, The Giant Pipe Organ ProfessorGAC Dec 2024 #125
Here are a few: True Dough Dec 2024 #17
My late boyfriend, named Bob used to say Bob'syour uncle Walleye Dec 2024 #21
Dropping a dime sdfernando Dec 2024 #103
"Bob's your uncle"! whathehell Dec 2024 #105
Drop a dime on someone MaryMagdaline Dec 2024 #57
There are still pay phones in the US Wiz Imp Dec 2024 #132
I still say Six of one; half dozen of the other. So does Mr YD nt yellowdogintexas Dec 2024 #176
Bull in a china shop. wnylib Dec 2024 #20
"Don't use my good scissors" JohnnyRingo Dec 2024 #41
that depends If there is a person who likes to sew in the house yellowdogintexas Dec 2024 #178
Hahahaaa! That was my mom on rare occasion... electric_blue68 Dec 2024 #190
About a decade ago I promoted my good china PoindexterOglethorpe Dec 2024 #43
Nice! I use mine as well. Also the silver. Keeps it sparkly MaryMagdaline Dec 2024 #55
Never got the good silver, unfortuately. If I had PoindexterOglethorpe Dec 2024 #62
I sold my Grand Baroque patterned sterling silver set I inherited from my mother. Nodody polishes silver any more. CTyankee Dec 2024 #81
my mom had her mother's sterling which was a very old pattern yellowdogintexas Dec 2024 #179
I say Bull in a china shop quite often and yes I have not one but two sets of fine china yellowdogintexas Dec 2024 #177
My mother also had a set of fine china from my brother wnylib Dec 2024 #184
Momisms from my mom: 10 Turtle Day Dec 2024 #22
my mom had some weird sayings. Can't remember all them, but pants were britches. LeftInTX Dec 2024 #186
My mom called Earl_from_PA Dec 2024 #23
Mine too! Nittersing Dec 2024 #40
My English husband calls it "bum fodder" iwillalwayswonderwhy Dec 2024 #54
Abbreviated "BUMF," should you ever encounter that word. n/t malthaussen Dec 2024 #91
Monkey Business Phentex Dec 2024 #24
Well I'll be a Monkey's Uncle !! Pluvious Dec 2024 #100
Now that reminds me of a science fiction story soldierant Dec 2024 #150
Colder than a well diggers ass. Emile Dec 2024 #25
Thermometer? Wicked Blue Dec 2024 #53
LOL picturing my mother-in-law holding a thermometer Emile Dec 2024 #58
That was one of my dad's favorites too jmowreader Dec 2024 #145
LOL, sounds just like what my mother-in-law used to say. Emile Dec 2024 #147
Cool beans! Lars39 Dec 2024 #26
Right on surfered Dec 2024 #27
Far out. Groovy. Ocelot II Dec 2024 #28
thats what I was thinking. peacebuzzard Dec 2024 #126
Bitchen DBoon Dec 2024 #153
Back 40 lark Dec 2024 #29
We still call the back corner of our yard cksmithy Dec 2024 #73
Tons of ranching and agriculture in CA, so it would make sense they'd use it too, lark Dec 2024 #140
I grew up in Texas and we said "Hot damn" a lot... CTyankee Dec 2024 #123
My son says it. LeftInTX Dec 2024 #187
Easy Peasy NT macwriter Dec 2024 #30
I hate that phrase. JohnnyRingo Dec 2024 #39
I have a friend who likes it soldierant Dec 2024 #151
Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy Niagara Dec 2024 #70
Par for the course. Diamond_Dog Dec 2024 #31
I remember that "wake up and smell the coffee" got new life... Pluvious Dec 2024 #101
I will have to ask Mr. Diamond Diamond_Dog Dec 2024 #118
I might be miss remembering... Pluvious Dec 2024 #142
I don't know if Ann Landers originated that phrase Diamond_Dog Dec 2024 #143
A bit more background on the phrase Pluvious Dec 2024 #144
Ann Landers and Dear Abby ("Abigail van Buren") soldierant Dec 2024 #154
Some I wish I never heard again like "My Bad", calling a movie a "Flick", "Dude" doc03 Dec 2024 #32
A big YES to all of those, doc03! Diamond_Dog Dec 2024 #44
Gonna sit right down and right me a letter! chouchou Dec 2024 #33
Can we add "it is what it is"? JohnnyRingo Dec 2024 #34
It depends on what the meaning of the word is is! Zambero Dec 2024 #42
Very 90's & 00's to me underpants Dec 2024 #79
Hate that expression MaryMagdaline Dec 2024 #95
I hear this from one of my housemates and no one else. nocoincidences Dec 2024 #35
we both say "That's My Story and I am sticking to it" . nt yellowdogintexas Dec 2024 #180
Land o' Goshen! ... and "Republicans are the party of fiscal reasonability" JohnnyRingo Dec 2024 #36
The Bees Knees Zambero Dec 2024 #37
Spinster. greatauntoftriplets Dec 2024 #45
Goes with #31 - "old maid"... rubbersole Dec 2024 #71
"Dial a phone number" sop Dec 2024 #46
"Out in the tules." hunter Dec 2024 #48
Perhaps not politically correct and... icnorth Dec 2024 #49
"loyal opposition" marble falls Dec 2024 #50
I use so many of these ! ShepKat Dec 2024 #51
Big Hairy Deal iwillalwayswonderwhy Dec 2024 #56
Faaaaar freaking out Wicked Blue Dec 2024 #59
I still say "bummer." Diamond_Dog Dec 2024 #65
Me too Wicked Blue Dec 2024 #69
In college in the late sixties we actually made fun of ourselves by saying "farm out" and "out of state"..... EarnestPutz Dec 2024 #122
Keep on Trucking soldierant Dec 2024 #157
Malarkey and shenanigans have come back MaryMagdaline Dec 2024 #60
Character matters. keithbvadu2 Dec 2024 #61
There's one I wish would go away, well a few, but " threw up in my mouth a little" takes the cake, so to speak. yorkster Dec 2024 #63
Sealed with a Kiss. patphil Dec 2024 #64
A dime a dozen Clouds Passing Dec 2024 #66
Mano-Manaschevitz! bif Dec 2024 #68
😂. That's a good one, I forgot about that! Diamond_Dog Dec 2024 #72
Takes two to tango Marthe48 Dec 2024 #76
Always heard the hands one as.... getagrip_already Dec 2024 #80
"Play fast and loose" goes back to medieval times soldierant Dec 2024 #159
Interesting Marthe48 Dec 2024 #161
"Hot diggity dog!" CTyankee Dec 2024 #83
This message was self-deleted by its author comradebillyboy Dec 2024 #85
Jimminy Cricket, golly jeezers. bless your little heart. erronis Dec 2024 #86
"Bless Your Heart will never go away as long as there are still Southern grand mothers. !!! nt yellowdogintexas Dec 2024 #182
Let's see... OldBaldy1701E Dec 2024 #87
This message was self-deleted by its author Prairie_Seagull Dec 2024 #88
"Built like a brick outhouse" malthaussen Dec 2024 #92
In certain circumstances, soldierant Dec 2024 #168
Didn't know that! n/t malthaussen Dec 2024 #174
Heavens to murgatroid (OMG) crud Dec 2024 #93
Wasn't it Mr Magoo that said it ? Pluvious Dec 2024 #114
Might've been Snagglepuss. Iggo Dec 2024 #167
This message was self-deleted by its author Kaleva Dec 2024 #96
No one today would say... Pluvious Dec 2024 #97
"Not on your tintype!" LisaM Dec 2024 #102
Does anyone else find this thread somewhat depressing? EarnestPutz Dec 2024 #104
That could explain why... Pluvious Dec 2024 #115
You make a very good point. EarnestPutz Dec 2024 #121
I would certainly recommend it soldierant Dec 2024 #171
Not really - soldierant Dec 2024 #169
Calling person to person mobeau69 Dec 2024 #108
Good golly miss molly ! Pluvious Dec 2024 #113
"Woo doggies" was his phrase LeftInTX Dec 2024 #188
The Life of Riley Niagara Dec 2024 #117
"The Life of Riley" was a 1950s TV show. Jeebo Dec 2024 #136
I have a neighbor that had a previous dog before it succumbed to an age related illness Niagara Dec 2024 #146
If any of us were holding my Mom up mercuryblues Dec 2024 #119
This may date me a tad bit: "The British are coming!" GreenWave Dec 2024 #120
OK, that got a LOL from me. soldierant Dec 2024 #170
Let's split kimbutgar Dec 2024 #127
Haven't heard that in ages. (60's-70's) LeftInTX Dec 2024 #189
Cold weather WmChris Dec 2024 #128
I like Lima Beans. debm55 Dec 2024 #129
Cutting the cheese happybird Dec 2024 #130
Swell! if..fish..had..wings Dec 2024 #131
"That really burns my cork." 3catwoman3 Dec 2024 #133
Like a monkey fucking a football MichMan Dec 2024 #134
Everything's hunky-dory. Jeebo Dec 2024 #135
Wasn't that about the time period that "copacetic" wa current too? soldierant Dec 2024 #173
still say copacetic from time to time. It was a favorite of my grandfather! nt yellowdogintexas Dec 2024 #181
Bill "Bojangles" Robinson loved the word and used it frequently. soldierant Dec 2024 #183
"It's all the go" marigold20 Dec 2024 #138
nobody says this anymore... SonOfNebanaube Dec 2024 #141
In like Flynn. Buttoneer Dec 2024 #148
Snug as a bug in a rug. Golden Raisin Dec 2024 #152
"Include a self-addressed stamped envelope." Prof. Toru Tanaka Dec 2024 #156
I still use "chasing the dime" even though it was outdated FSogol Dec 2024 #158
Not to worry DeeDeeNY Dec 2024 #160
"Wicked pissah" Submariner Dec 2024 #162
"Would you like me to check under the hood?" madamesilverspurs Dec 2024 #163
Useless as teats on a boar pig. CanonRay Dec 2024 #164
I use that one, a bit different: "useless as tits on a boar hog." raccoon Dec 2024 #191
I have several such as moniss Dec 2024 #172
Here's one we don't hear any more. C0RI0LANUS Dec 2024 #175
Gay and carefree meaning the same thing. As in the "The Gay Divorcee" LeftInTX Dec 2024 #185

walkingman

(10,258 posts)
1. A friend laughed at me the other day when I said
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 01:03 AM
Dec 2024

I need to put on my britches - instead of pants.

No one says "rubbers" anymore - condoms.

Stargleamer

(2,587 posts)
2. Alas, I don't think people say "Gee Whiz" any more
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 01:07 AM
Dec 2024

I kind of miss it. "Only trouble is, Gee Whiz. . . ."



johnp3907

(4,199 posts)
3. I like to use antiquated phrases.
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 01:12 AM
Dec 2024

Like “Gonna grab something outta the icebox and chill in front of the Dumont.”

Iggo

(49,584 posts)
89. Me, too. It's fun.
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 02:01 PM
Dec 2024

On the regular I use blimey, sure and begorah, shiver me timbers…

Stuff like that.

Pluvious

(5,192 posts)
98. I remember my mother...
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 02:54 PM
Dec 2024

... telling how when she was a little girl, the ice man would give them a few ice slivers as a treat in the summertime

dgauss

(1,482 posts)
8. Holy cow. Never understood it but but always thought cows somehow deserved a phrase like that.
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 01:42 AM
Dec 2024

radical noodle

(10,466 posts)
10. My daughter says that all the time
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 01:54 AM
Dec 2024

But she's a teacher so has to watch what she says. The kids love that phrase and giggle when she says it.

Sanity Claws

(22,323 posts)
47. Phil Rizzuto always used Holy Cow
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 10:15 AM
Dec 2024

Rizzuto was an announcer for the New York Yankees for ages. I think he retired in the 1980s.

True Dough

(25,633 posts)
110. You're joking, right?
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 03:44 PM
Dec 2024

Because they are not father/son.

Hard to tell via the innerwebz, but maybe you meant that in jest.

enid602

(9,608 posts)
137. Confusion
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 05:56 AM
Dec 2024

The photo posted was not Harry Carey (American actor), but rather Harry Caray (né Carabina), Chicago sportscaster. Confusion indeed.

True Dough

(25,633 posts)
139. Ah, I see.
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 08:15 AM
Dec 2024

Having the same name does not help matters! I'm unfamiliar with the actor, at least without doing some research.

dgauss

(1,482 posts)
109. Never thought of that. From Wikipedia:
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 03:42 PM
Dec 2024
"Holy cow!" (and other similar terms), an exclamation of surprise used mostly in the United States, Canada, Australia, and England, is a minced oath or euphemism. The expression dates to at latest 1905.[1] Its earliest known appearance was in a tongue-in-cheek letter to the editor of the Minneapolis Journal: "A lover of the cow writes to this column to protest against a certain variety of Hindu oath having to do with the vain use of the name of the milk producer. There is the profane exclamations, 'holy cow!' and, 'By the stomach of the eternal cow!'"[2] The phrase appears to have been adopted as a means to avoid using obscene or indecent language and may have been based on a general awareness of the holiness of cows in some religious traditions, particularly Hinduism.[1]

It may also have been adapted from a Gaelic phrase, holy cathu, meaning "holy sorrow."[3]


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_cow_(expression)

royable

(1,426 posts)
19. Try "spindle." Some of the earliest records were wax cylinders.
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 06:15 AM
Dec 2024

You mounted the cylinder on a spindle that spun, and lowered the record needle on a pivot to touch the rotatiing outside of the cylinder. The needle fed the sound to a big horn hanging from an arm over the spindle. So, no turning table.

Pluvious

(5,192 posts)
99. And yet...
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 03:00 PM
Dec 2024

Some people are trying to keep it alive...

( there is a surprisingly vibrant secondhand market for vinyl albums, I was shocked at how much money I got dumping my old ones at the recycled records store )


rubbersole

(10,962 posts)
106. My late ex had every Elvis, Beatles, Baez etc. LP and 45 ever made.
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 03:28 PM
Dec 2024

Our kids are not selling any of her vast (500+) collection of early '60s through '80s vinyl. They consider it a retirement investment. I was amazed at the demand.

Pluvious

(5,192 posts)
112. They could be very lucky indeed...
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 04:12 PM
Dec 2024

Depending upon the rarity and condition

During my research on the resellability of them, I saw some staggering prices paid for some
of the most rare and sought after ones

rubbersole

(10,962 posts)
116. When moving, the one that caught my eye...
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 04:47 PM
Dec 2024

...was a red translucent 45 Elvis record with a Sun Records label. Not mint but very unique. Might be worth a bag of groceries someday 😌.

Response to Buttoneer (Original post)

yorkster

(3,644 posts)
67. I wonder if the dog sled driver was supposed to
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 11:16 AM
Dec 2024

be Scandinavian. Maybe I'm thinking of
"Yumpin' yiminy!".

Response to yorkster (Reply #67)

yorkster

(3,644 posts)
82. I too have heard by jingo in the wayback of my
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 12:50 PM
Dec 2024

childhood...or maybe an old movie on TCM.

yorkster

(3,644 posts)
75. Should add that I read those books so long ago,
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 12:07 PM
Dec 2024

that I only have a dim memory of them.
Good reads. I was about 14 or so and definitely was drawn by the titles...The Call of the Wild, The Sea Wolf, etc. Who could resist...

Response to yorkster (Reply #75)

ProfessorGAC

(75,682 posts)
94. Family Friends Had One
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 02:27 PM
Dec 2024

Console organ. A million buttons and switches plus a rhythm box. But, I sounded weak compared to my dad's Hammond.
One of the schools where I sub has a Wurlizter piano. Not in very good shape, but the guy they bring in can still tune it. Wurlitzer never had good action, but their spinets were very affordable so lots of people had them. Like my aunt & uncle.
There was a store in the town where I grew up that was all Wurlitzer & Fender.
After Gibson bought Baldwin, who bought Wurlitzer, they quit making instruments with that name on them.
Their only products appear to be jukeboxes.

Keepthesoulalive

(2,097 posts)
124. There is still a Wurlitzer
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 08:01 PM
Dec 2024

At Radio City Music Hall. When I was younger they would turn the lights on over it and then the Rockettes would come out.

ProfessorGAC

(75,682 posts)
125. Oh, The Giant Pipe Organ
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 09:17 PM
Dec 2024

I read a book about those huge theater organs made by Wurlizter & Kimball.
In fact, I'm pretty sure that the RCMA organ was the Kimball design & layout but built by Wurlizter.
I got to play a big pipe organ a couple of times when I was a kid. 12 or 13 y/o as I recall.
When the volume pedal is pushed, you can just feel the sound.

True Dough

(25,633 posts)
17. Here are a few:
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 04:28 AM
Dec 2024

Making whoopee

Jive turkey

Here's a dime. Call somebody who cares. (A dime ain't getting you much of anything these days.)

As nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rockers

You bet your sweet bippy!

Six of one, half a dozen of the other (My dad used to say that a lot.)

Bob's your uncle

Walleye

(43,691 posts)
21. My late boyfriend, named Bob used to say Bob'syour uncle
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 07:00 AM
Dec 2024

And my mom loved six of 1/2 a dozen of the other. And kids today probably wonder where the expression “drop a dime on somebody” came from

sdfernando

(6,007 posts)
103. Dropping a dime
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 03:16 PM
Dec 2024

has a whole different meaning nowadays…all together (gratuitous Airplane reference).

And who says “nowadays” anymore??

whathehell

(30,331 posts)
105. "Bob's your uncle"!
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 03:24 PM
Dec 2024

That's British slang, I believe...I first heard it on a British TV series and found it hillarious!

Wiz Imp

(8,741 posts)
132. There are still pay phones in the US
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 11:08 PM
Dec 2024

but there are less than 100000 left.

https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/pay-phones-coming-back-free.htm

There Are Still Many Phoneless People

The slow death of the pay phone has been harder for some people than for others. Though the vast majority of Americans now own some kind of cell phone, there are still some — including impoverished or unhoused people — who depend on the availability of public pay phones.

In some cities, innovators are working to solve the problem. Futel is a project based in Portland, Oregon, that updates old pay phones to provide free calls and voicemail. It has eight outdoor, pay phone-style phones in Portland, plus one in Long Beach, Washington, and one each in Ypsilanti and Detroit, Michigan. "Denial of telephony services has long been a tactic used against undesirable populations," write Futel's founders, "and our devices will counteract that."

In Philadelphia, an "amateur phone collective" called PhilTel is doing more than just preserving old pay phones: They're installing new ones, minus the "pay" part. The project aims to create a network of phones that make free calls anywhere in North America.


though I guess if they're free, they're no longer payphones.

wnylib

(25,355 posts)
20. Bull in a china shop.
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 06:22 AM
Dec 2024

Last edited Sat Dec 21, 2024, 11:27 AM - Edit history (1)

I said that once in front of some younger people who had no clue what I meant. Seems to me that it is self-explanitary, but perhaps they never heard of a china shop.

Speaking of china, who says they are using the "good china" any more? How many people still have a set of china?



yellowdogintexas

(23,591 posts)
178. that depends If there is a person who likes to sew in the house
Mon Dec 23, 2024, 01:45 AM
Dec 2024

you will hear the scissors comment!

electric_blue68

(25,613 posts)
190. Hahahaaa! That was my mom on rare occasion...
Mon Dec 23, 2024, 05:20 AM
Dec 2024

She had gone to dressmaking school after HS in NYC.

She was a fabulous sewer! She knew enough from her design courses to alter things. She might have designed here & there, maybe more before she was married.

Our clothes often had the qualities of looking like they came from Sak's Fifth Ave! 😄 🥰

PoindexterOglethorpe

(28,405 posts)
43. About a decade ago I promoted my good china
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 09:55 AM
Dec 2024

to being my every day china. I love it. I'm only sorry I didn't do it years earlier. The pattern is Royal Doulton Tonkin.

CTyankee

(67,737 posts)
81. I sold my Grand Baroque patterned sterling silver set I inherited from my mother. Nodody polishes silver any more.
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 12:46 PM
Dec 2024

I got $1,300 for the entire collection. Gorgeous pattern but too hard to keep up any more.

yellowdogintexas

(23,591 posts)
179. my mom had her mother's sterling which was a very old pattern
Mon Dec 23, 2024, 01:49 AM
Dec 2024

I can't remember the name of it but she did use it. She also had her mother's everyday silver plate which was what we used most of the time.

I have a (now discontinued) heavy weight Oneida set of stainless which I love and it really pisses me off that it was discontinued. Of course I received all of the silver plate pattern I picked out with the first marriage and still have it.

yellowdogintexas

(23,591 posts)
177. I say Bull in a china shop quite often and yes I have not one but two sets of fine china
Mon Dec 23, 2024, 01:41 AM
Dec 2024

One was mine which was mostly wedding presents from my first wedding. The other set belonged to Mr YD's mother. He brought it to her from Hong Kong when he was in the Navy. That was the one thing she wanted when he asked her what she might like him to bring her. The two sets are very similar: white with platinum rims. I have used them from time to time, when I had folks over for a nice dinner.

We also have a set of Mikasa Italian Countryside which I love! It is a beautiful white and looks nice enough to dress up for a company dinner,

The last time I had my china out, I had the entire family over for Thanksgiving and used a combo of my china and the everyday white I was using at the time. (Not the Mikasa, some heavy stoneware which I gave away because I kept dropping it)

wnylib

(25,355 posts)
184. My mother also had a set of fine china from my brother
Mon Dec 23, 2024, 02:58 AM
Dec 2024

who sent it to her from Japan when he was in the Navy.

I never did have a set of fine china. Stoneware is ok with me.

10 Turtle Day

(1,030 posts)
22. Momisms from my mom:
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 07:22 AM
Dec 2024

It’s your nickel - after calling her, which means talk as long as you want because I’m the one feeding the pay phone or paying the phone bill.

He pulled a shrewdie on me - when someone pulls a fast one on her

Damed if you do, damed if you don’t - no good choices

Tan your hide - get a spanking

Month of Sundays - a very long time

Skedaddle - leave in a hurry

Long tall drink of water - a handsome man

I just realized that the explanation to my first two, pay phone and pulled a fast one, are also no longer in use. I guess I’m officially old.

Edited to fix typo

LeftInTX

(34,013 posts)
186. my mom had some weird sayings. Can't remember all them, but pants were britches.
Mon Dec 23, 2024, 03:18 AM
Dec 2024

She was from Florida.

Phentex

(16,684 posts)
24. Monkey Business
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 09:08 AM
Dec 2024

got some strange looks and a few chuckles after I said this to the Google Fiber installers

They never heard of it

soldierant

(9,252 posts)
150. Now that reminds me of a science fiction story
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 09:33 PM
Dec 2024

in which a man decides to obliterate himself by time traveling to before he was born and killing his father. But when he does that, nothing happens. He is still alive and well. He says, "Well, I'll be a son of a b***h," and the author's last word is "And, in a manner of speaking, he was."

Emile

(40,314 posts)
25. Colder than a well diggers ass.
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 09:15 AM
Dec 2024

My mother-in-law said that all the time. How did she know the temperature of a well diggers ass? I never asked.

jmowreader

(52,867 posts)
145. That was one of my dad's favorites too
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 11:57 AM
Dec 2024

He also liked "shit in one hand and wish in the other, and see which one fills up first."

Also "I'm so hungry I'd eat a skunk's ass."

lark

(25,850 posts)
29. Back 40
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 09:21 AM
Dec 2024

Mom was from rural TX and she and her family used phrase a lot but no one else does anymore.

cksmithy

(417 posts)
73. We still call the back corner of our yard
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 11:54 AM
Dec 2024

"the back 40" because our yard is so small. Growing up in the 1950's it was a common expression on tv western shows that my parents always on. I'm from California.

soldierant

(9,252 posts)
151. I have a friend who likes it
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 09:38 PM
Dec 2024

and he is a retired pediatrician. Not exactly a kindergarten teacher - but not so different.

Diamond_Dog

(39,646 posts)
31. Par for the course.
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 09:28 AM
Dec 2024

Last edited Sat Dec 21, 2024, 11:03 AM - Edit history (1)

A fine how-do-you-do.

Wake up and smell the coffee!

Dollars to donuts.

Referring to an unmarried woman as an “old maid”. (Thank God that one is not used any more).

Pluvious

(5,192 posts)
101. I remember that "wake up and smell the coffee" got new life...
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 03:10 PM
Dec 2024

... from a great scene in the first sequel to Alien, Aliens?

Pluvious

(5,192 posts)
142. I might be miss remembering...
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 11:20 AM
Dec 2024

I thought it was the line :

"Game over man, game over man, wake up and smell the coffee"

But now I'm not so sure

I think I read that the phrase originated from Ann Landers an advice columnist of all places lol

Diamond_Dog

(39,646 posts)
143. I don't know if Ann Landers originated that phrase
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 11:29 AM
Dec 2024

But it was one of her favorite phrases to use in her advice columns, which I read every day in the papers as a kid.

Pluvious

(5,192 posts)
144. A bit more background on the phrase
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 11:48 AM
Dec 2024

This is what I stumbled upon

I'm guessing she picked it up from the Nescafé ads, and helped popularize it
( or was she in the ads saying it? I guess we'll never know lol )

This one, as far as we can tell, originated in a Nescafé ad campaign and was popularized by the late advice columnist Ann Landers. Some people think it should be "wake up and smell the roses" but they're wrong. That phrase is actually a mixture of the old standard "stop and smell the roses" and "wake up and smell the coffee."


https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Food/2013/0504/15-hidden-meanings-of-popular-food-phrases/Wake-up-and-smell-the-coffee

soldierant

(9,252 posts)
154. Ann Landers and Dear Abby ("Abigail van Buren")
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 09:45 PM
Dec 2024

didn't just look alike - they were twin sisters. Their real first names were "Esther Pauline" and "Pauline Esther." I kid you not (now there's a phrase!) And their advice and their styles of writing were quite similar. Which makes it next to impossible to remember whether one picked up a phrase from one or the other. One is said to have originated the acronym MYOB (which desperately needs to get revived in today's America.) But don't ask me which.

doc03

(38,785 posts)
32. Some I wish I never heard again like "My Bad", calling a movie a "Flick", "Dude"
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 09:30 AM
Dec 2024

I ain't no fucking dude, "Woke"

Diamond_Dog

(39,646 posts)
44. A big YES to all of those, doc03!
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 09:57 AM
Dec 2024

Mr. Diamond still says “flick”. It drives me up the wall.

JohnnyRingo

(20,414 posts)
34. Can we add "it is what it is"?
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 09:47 AM
Dec 2024

I don't even know what that means or when everyone started saying it. It sounds like a capitulatory phrase when you're at a loss for more eloquent words.
Everybody says it though, and I can't change it. I guess it is what it is.

Zambero

(9,914 posts)
42. It depends on what the meaning of the word is is!
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 09:55 AM
Dec 2024

Oops, scratch that one. It just might get you impeached!

underpants

(194,584 posts)
79. Very 90's & 00's to me
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 12:24 PM
Dec 2024

I used to here it a lot at work mostly from people who feel like they HAVE to say something.

nocoincidences

(2,448 posts)
35. I hear this from one of my housemates and no one else.
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 09:49 AM
Dec 2024

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

hunter

(40,325 posts)
48. "Out in the tules."
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 10:18 AM
Dec 2024

That was a California phrase my grandma and her sister used. If you lived far from the city you lived out in the tules, which were California's Central Valley marshlands before they were all drained and converted to farmland.

There were some derogatory connotations to it, not quite so harsh as "rube" or "bumpkin."

icnorth

(1,045 posts)
49. Perhaps not politically correct and...
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 10:32 AM
Dec 2024

I may get smoked for saying it but, a looong time ago I heard this phrase expressing anatomical appreciation, "she has a nice hitch in her get along." Okay, I will leave quietly.

ShepKat

(506 posts)
51. I use so many of these !
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 10:38 AM
Dec 2024

and not too many I don't. I swear i've said 75% of these in the last month.
Golly ! (I hear that in Clara's voice in back to the future 3)

Wicked Blue

(8,409 posts)
59. Faaaaar freaking out
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 10:48 AM
Dec 2024

also Faaaar f*cking out.

Too cool. Too cool for school.

Total bummer.

He's such a winner (meaning loser)





 

EarnestPutz

(2,843 posts)
122. In college in the late sixties we actually made fun of ourselves by saying "farm out" and "out of state".....
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 07:40 PM
Dec 2024

instead of "far out" and "out of sight".

MaryMagdaline

(7,937 posts)
60. Malarkey and shenanigans have come back
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 10:49 AM
Dec 2024

Malarkey - thanks to Joe Biden
Shenanigans - not sure why it’s back, but I love it

yorkster

(3,644 posts)
63. There's one I wish would go away, well a few, but " threw up in my mouth a little" takes the cake, so to speak.
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 11:00 AM
Dec 2024

I get the idea, but there are so many other ways to convey this reaction that aren’t quite so repulsive, nauseating, sickening, disgusting….





patphil

(8,670 posts)
64. Sealed with a Kiss.
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 11:06 AM
Dec 2024

That's like the Pot calling the Kettle black.
Make like a tree and leaf.
See you later alligator, after while crocodile.

Marthe48

(22,628 posts)
76. Takes two to tango
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 12:08 PM
Dec 2024

Made their bed, now they have to lay in it

Lay down with dogs, get up with fleas

Their chicken has come home to roost

A bun in the oven

Play fast and loose

Handsome is as handsome does

My Mom and Dad both liked 'Wish in one hand, sh*t in the other and see what you have more of'

I like the old phrases and I'm always on the lookout for ones I haven't heard.





soldierant

(9,252 posts)
159. "Play fast and loose" goes back to medieval times
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 09:57 PM
Dec 2024

and the "fast" in it has nothing to do with speed. Grifters at fairs (which were not celebratory events primarily, but opportunities for merchants to sell to larger crowds) , then as now, had grifters. "Fast and Loose" was a game some of them used, similar in the sense of "the quickness of the hand" aspect to the "which cup is the ball under." The grifter would take a belt, often one belonging to the mark, an twist and tie it up quickly and confusingly, and challenge the mark to take a knife and drive it into a spot such that it would stay "fast" on the table when one tried to pick it up. But it would always turn out to be "loose."

Response to Buttoneer (Original post)

erronis

(22,482 posts)
86. Jimminy Cricket, golly jeezers. bless your little heart.
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 01:38 PM
Dec 2024

Hope you do a re-post with a collection of these. (There is probably already a book/web page out there.)

yellowdogintexas

(23,591 posts)
182. "Bless Your Heart will never go away as long as there are still Southern grand mothers. !!! nt
Mon Dec 23, 2024, 01:59 AM
Dec 2024

OldBaldy1701E

(9,987 posts)
87. Let's see...
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 01:43 PM
Dec 2024

"May I help you?"

"I see your side of the argument and we should discuss it further."

"I have enough." (A particularly obsolete phrase that seem to have zero meaning for anyone in this country.)

"We need to look at the big picture." (If we did that, we'd see just how insidious those rethugs have been, so they got rid of that concept.)

And one of my all time favorites... an Irish prayer that means as much today as it did back when it was created.

"From ghoulies, ghosties, long-leggedy beasties, and things that go bump in the night, Great Lord protect us!"

I used to hear the older people say this all the time way back when. We surely need it now.

Response to Buttoneer (Original post)

malthaussen

(18,375 posts)
92. "Built like a brick outhouse"
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 02:11 PM
Dec 2024

(That's the bowdlerdized version). It refers to a female of aesthetically pleasing figure.

-- Mal

soldierant

(9,252 posts)
168. In certain circumstances,
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 11:11 PM
Dec 2024

it could also refer to a well-built man. In Terence Blanchard's opera "Champion, " based on the real life of Emil Griffith (who never intended to do anything else but make hats), the librettist has the fight manager he meets tell him that's how he is built, in just those words (uncensored). (He does become a boxer, a champion - I forget what weight - but is not at peace with himself after one of his blows in the ring kills another boxer.)

crud

(1,190 posts)
93. Heavens to murgatroid (OMG)
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 02:14 PM
Dec 2024

Red up the house (when straightening up the house for unexpected company)

If anyone calls, tell them Barnaby said hello (if you're from Cleveland you may have heard this)

The Stoop, when referring to the door step (might be a pennsylvania thing)

50 cents to see the elephant jump the fence. (when asking for ice cream man money)

These were some of my mom's sayings.

Iggo

(49,584 posts)
167. Might've been Snagglepuss.
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 11:09 PM
Dec 2024

Last edited Mon Dec 23, 2024, 03:16 AM - Edit history (1)

Whoever it was has a lisp.

Response to Buttoneer (Original post)

Pluvious

(5,192 posts)
97. No one today would say...
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 02:51 PM
Dec 2024

Help me buckle up my shoes

"Three four open the door, five six pick up sticks..."

Pluvious

(5,192 posts)
115. That could explain why...
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 04:25 PM
Dec 2024

It's almost got 2000 views right now, and 115 replies, but only 14 recs

soldierant

(9,252 posts)
171. I would certainly recommend it
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 11:25 PM
Dec 2024

if I could find the rec button. I have not been able to recommend an OP since the latedt changed in recommending comments.

soldierant

(9,252 posts)
169. Not really -
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 11:17 PM
Dec 2024

even though I have not yet come across one I haven't heard somewhere before. Sur, it means I'm old, but what a rich life I must have lived to have heard all those generations of catch phrases.

Niagara

(11,375 posts)
117. The Life of Riley
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 04:57 PM
Dec 2024

The cat's meow

See a man about a dog/horse

Not on your Nelly

Hold your horses

Up your nose with a rubber hose

Up to snuff

What's your poison?

Jeebo

(2,549 posts)
136. "The Life of Riley" was a 1950s TV show.
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 02:02 AM
Dec 2024

And a 1940s radio show. I used to watch it on TV in the late 1950s when I was a kid. I never knew it was a radio show in the 1940s, before I was born, until I got a Sirius satellite radio in my car a few years ago and discovered that they play episodes from that 1940s radio show often on their old-time radio classics station.

About 15 years ago I had a cat who came from one of my neighbors' houses and took up with me. I walked by him snoozing on a corner of a bookcase in my living room one day and suddenly had the thought, This cat has people feeding him, opening doors for him, giving him affection, he's living the life of Riley, so he must be ... Riley! And that was the perfect name for that cat. Somehow it just fit him to a T.

-- Ron

&t=36s

Niagara

(11,375 posts)
146. I have a neighbor that had a previous dog before it succumbed to an age related illness
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 12:03 PM
Dec 2024

Last edited Sun Dec 22, 2024, 01:05 PM - Edit history (1)

The neighbor was outside snow blowing and shoveling and the dog stayed close to him.


I commented on how well behaved his dog was and asked about the dog's name.


He replied. "Riley. The Life of Riley."


I don't hear that too much anymore so I though that I would throw that phrase in.

mercuryblues

(16,148 posts)
119. If any of us were holding my Mom up
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 05:05 PM
Dec 2024

she would tell us to Put some hustle in that bustle. IOW Stop dragging your ass hand hurry up.

WmChris

(591 posts)
128. Cold weather
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 10:03 PM
Dec 2024

Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey. From an old electric lineman.

happybird

(5,375 posts)
130. Cutting the cheese
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 10:18 PM
Dec 2024

Came across that one at work again today.

"What are you doing next?"
"Cuttin' da cheese."

Literally, since it's a deli. We old people giggle, but we had to explain it to the younger ones because they just looked confused.

131. Swell!
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 10:58 PM
Dec 2024

My mother used to deny she ever said it, but all 5 kids agree she did

"I'm going to snatch you bald-headed"

3catwoman3

(28,484 posts)
133. "That really burns my cork."
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 12:31 AM
Dec 2024

Something my dad, born in 1921, would say if really annoyed about something. I’ve never heard anyone else say it.

Jeebo

(2,549 posts)
135. Everything's hunky-dory.
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 01:44 AM
Dec 2024

It means everything's good. It means everybody's happy about the state of affairs. Which none of us here at DU are since November 5. I used to hear "hunky-dory" every once in a while but rarely hear it any more, so for the past few years I've been using it in an attempt to bring it back.

— Ron

soldierant

(9,252 posts)
183. Bill "Bojangles" Robinson loved the word and used it frequently.
Mon Dec 23, 2024, 02:08 AM
Dec 2024

But he doesn't appear to have originated it. At least one white person picked it up from him and popularized it among white people. Of the many, the story I tend to believe is that is came from creole French and usage in the black communities of New Orleans.

marigold20

(930 posts)
138. "It's all the go"
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 06:53 AM
Dec 2024

referring to something stylish. Something my mom (born in 1920) used to say.

madamesilverspurs

(16,459 posts)
163. "Would you like me to check under the hood?"
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 10:41 PM
Dec 2024

My body is getting cranky enough that I'm really missing full-service gas stations.


.

moniss

(8,603 posts)
172. I have several such as
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 11:26 PM
Dec 2024

"standards of journalism", "service with a smile", "rule of law", "nobody is above the law", "work hard and you'll get ahead", "new, exciting automotive style", "clean water", "low, low prices", "affordable rent", "she wouldn't do that to me", "he wouldn't do that to me", "I don't know", "nobody is that crazy", "bring a bottle of milk from the store", "your condition is covered", "somebody will stop it", "new and improved", "this won't hurt a bit", "leave our kids a better life than we had", "peace and harmony", "the public good", "he's not like Hitler", "I'll paint any car $29.95", "it'll only be for awhile", "our company was not aware of the harmful effects".

C0RI0LANUS

(3,015 posts)
175. Here's one we don't hear any more.
Mon Dec 23, 2024, 01:28 AM
Dec 2024

"PDQ"

As in telling someone on 13 April: "Better get your taxes done, PDQ!"

(Pretty Darn Quick)

I used it at work; others went with ASAP.

LeftInTX

(34,013 posts)
185. Gay and carefree meaning the same thing. As in the "The Gay Divorcee"
Mon Dec 23, 2024, 03:09 AM
Dec 2024

There were lots of phrases with gay in them when I was growing up.
We learned them in school.
They eventually went bye-bye.

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